Friday 30 May 2008

The Chariot

So much has been happening over the past few days, but I've also been busy with other things, so I've not been able to get to the PC to update.

The Chariot has appeared in my tarot spread over the past two weeks, and I find its reappearance really interesting. The Chariot seems to be brining me a clear message at the moment, and it's obviously something to which I need to pay attention.

There are two horses, one black, one white and this has worked over the past two weeks to reinforce the genuine need to bring together all aspects of self and not to see either as a polar opposite, but to integrate both into that inner relationship, thereby bringing inner wholeness through relationship. Life is gestated in darkness, seeds germinate in the dark, this the place of initial growth, yet as growth commences, so they seek the light. Both are required for life.

The horses are under the control of the driver. Control is a huge issue for me, I bulk at any kind of control, be it through individuals, organisations, structure, dogma or any such thing. I have fought for many years for the right to be my own person. I think an upbringing of control through religion is the root of this detirmination, but the message of the Chariot is clear in that deep inner emotions and impulses need to come under my own control. This control isn't a forceful, suppressing or oppressive thing, but rather a control that comes from discipline and from the development of my own true will. The inner impulses of which I speak are not wrong, and their expression is not wrong, but it's about bringing my own inner world under the control of my intellect and will and channeling these natural forces into a powerful force. It's a further development of knowing myself in an intimate yet powerful way.

"The tendency of the spiritual mind is to niceness but we should be firm minded not nice minded"


goes a quote that I heard some time ago, but for the life of me can't remember the source! The Chariot reinforces this message, true spirituality isn't always about being nice to all things, it's about deep inner transformation and growth, a series of continual transitions. To stand still is to stagnate, and stagnation equals death - it isn't an option.

There's something here about personal responsibility, taking personal control, speaking ones truth and standing up to take the consequences of that, not being afraid of change, not seeing change as a threat to security, but learning to move with the ebb and flow of spiritual movement, and being intuitive and responsive enough to both hear and heed the call. As a Magickal Being I create my own reality and I set my own destiny, and there's something here about accepting personal responsibility for that, not pointing the finger, not blaming people and circumstances, but realising that I can do something about it. This is the truth and reality of standing in ones power. It's a moving from bring reactive to proactive. The myriad emotions that exist within me, my desires, passions, thoughts, feelings are there to serve, not control. My body is where I am choosing to live in this incarnation, my senses are how I experience the world in this incarnation, and that's cool, but it's also not all there is, to limit myself to such a narrow experience of life is to miss out on spiritual dynamism and reality.

Personal determination, personal discipline, personal dedication, all requirements to a productive spiritual life. The rider of the Chariot knows the destination and there's little that will alter her course. Whilst there's something here of controlling anger and aggression, there is also something about developing those vital aspects of the spiritual being - determination and a focused, steadfast mind.

This is one more stage of the letting go process. Letting go of fear, the fear of change because any change shifts the foundation, alters the perception, shifts the goalposts. This is a letting go of that which no longer serves, but also an embracing of that which does - it's a 'little death' leading to a bigger life, a period of transition, stepping ever closer to initiation, which in itself is a continual process.

There's also something here of a walking consciousness, being aware of my intra-actions as well as my interactions, clearing out the conduit to allow for ever greater communication between Younger, Talking and Higher Self.

Now I need to pull all this together - I think that's enough to be going on with!!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm really interested in your understanding that your senses are how you experience the world but not all there is, to paraphrase it.I wonder if you could expand on that concept at all.

Ceri

Andy said...

Ceri, I don't think you have to post anonymously! It's probably more than likely that you're only posting problem is that you've not entered the letters in the code thing correctly, it happens to me all the time as I can't always make them out.

As for our five senses not being all there is, I am obviously talking about spiritual gifts and insight, the third eye, intuition, secret knowledge, knowledge of the mysteries and so on and so forth.

Remember this is my spiritual journal where I think aloud, that's all.

Ffraid said...

I'm not anonymous, that's why I signed it! The lettering disappears after one correct attempt, probably heavy traffic as I found difficulty posting on 2 witches earlier on.

I'm intrigued by secret knowledge, knowledge of the mysteries though,perhaps you could explain, I'm really interested in this

Andy said...

Ceri, my entire blog talks about this as I feel any spiritual pagan journey is about exploring the mysteries. The mysteries of self, of Spirit, of life, of journeying between the worlds, of exploring the under and upper worlds, of working with the One Divine Life, of working with the knowledge of our ancestors and Guides, of the wisdom, magick and power of the Lord and Lady, of exploring new realms, of looking at things with moonlight eyes, all of these things and many, many more, are, to me at least, part of the mystery. My blog is about my own spiritual journey, it's not a blueprint for anyone else, because we all walk our own path and in a very real way, we all walk alone. However, my path is about exploring the Mystery as revealed to me by the Lord and Lady and my Guides.

Ffraid said...

Thanks for clearing that one up.I've always been interested in moonlight vision, it increases the levels of perception and self awareness of a situation apparently.